Analysis of smart laminates using piezoelectric MITC plate and shell elements

In this paper, recently developed piezoelectric MITC plate and shell elements are employed for the modelling of multi-layer smart structures. The structures considered are thin to moderately thick sandwich plates and shells where some or all of the layers may be piezoelectric. The piezoelectric MITC elements are free of locking and yield very accurate and reliable results, as shown in previous publications. The proposed approach is very general, using single-layer elements and connecting the layers by introducing suitable displacement constraints. This approach has the advantage that the piezoelectric MITC elements can be used with a wide range of structural elements. For example, it would be possible to include viscoelastic bonding layers in the analysis. By means of numerical examples, the accuracy of the solutions and the suitability of the approach for the modelling of smart structures are demonstrated.